Hate Crime

Director - James Cullen Bressack (My Pure Joy, Theatre of the Deranged)
Starring - Jody Barton (To Jennifer, Theatre of the Deranged II), Nicholas Clark (Treasure Chest of Horrors 2), and Greg Depetro (Ditch Day Massacre)
Release Date - 2013
Genre - Horror
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     When you write reviews it is always difficult to determine which film you want to review next.  Sometimes you see a film that you have never heard of before and you want to review it so other people can know about it.  However, sometimes as a reviewer you get a chance to review a film very few people have seen because it has not been released yet.  That brings me to James Cullen Bressack's Hate Crime.  I met Bressack through Concept Media's Shawn Burkett who informed me that he will have a section in the anthology film Theatre of the Deranged II.  I reached out to Bressack and he sent me numerous films to review and two of which have yet to be released with a third film that has yet to be released sent to me just today.  So I decided to review those three first so I could throw my two cents out there. 
     The film follows a Jewish family who just moved in to a new neighborhood.  As they celebrate their youngest boy's birthday they unexpectedly get uninvited guests. Three mask men break up the party and quickly shoot the birthday boy.  Madness then ensues as they beat and taunt the Jewish family before raping and killing the mother.  One of the men takes the teenage daughter up in to the bathroom to have his way with her but the tide changes.  The father is able to untie his rope and is able to kill the antisemitic peckerhead before helping her escape.  Sadly, his plans are thwarted and the neo-nazi scum get the upper hand and finish off the family.
     I am going to be completely honest and admit that I thought I would hate this movie when I first saw the poster for it.  It is so hard not to judge a book by it's cover.  After the first few minutes of the film I knew I would really enjoy it.  The film starts with the action and does not let up until the very end and I really enjoy that.  Most movies seem to drag out and are filled with what I call "filler" scenes and dialogue that are only in it to make it longer than a short.  Cinema fans will not find any of that in this one.  My only real complaint about this film is the found footage aspect.  I hate found footage and the difficulty the viewer faces when trying to follow the film.  I think a more professional approach to the camera work would have made a big difference.  The acting is so-so.  The three actors playing the racist fucks did a great job in their roles.  In fact, they made it very easy for the viewer to hate them.  However, the cast portraying the Jewish family did not do a very convincing job in their roles once they were under attack.  I personally did not feel any real distress from the family.  I think a lot more screaming, crying, and snot would be seen if this was an actual event.  The story is fucking phenomenal.  The point of this film is to be unnerving and make the viewer completely uncomfortable and that is exactly what this film does.  The film relies heavily on real world horror and it makes it even more traumatizing because it can happen to any of us regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and financial standings.  With all that said, the film is really not that original but does add a real world twist on the home invasion sub-genre unlike the films Strangers and You're Next.  Random murders and killings do happen but are not that common, however, those fueled by closed minded hate happen all the time.  Finally, the few kills and special effects we do get are not that great.  I would have loved to see better kills but that could be said about a plethora of other films as well.  They would have made the film a lot stronger but does not really take away from the overall flick.  Overall, this film preys on human emotion and uses the everyday world to scare the shit out of you.  No age nor gender are exempt from the horrors of the real world and this film shows that.  I highly recommend it.